i74 
CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS. 
digging out the soil as for celery trenches, the 
soil thrown out forming a back right and left 
for shelter ; the trenches were filled in with 
old hot-bed material, chiefly leaves, among 
which the pots were plunged ; the whole sur- 
face, banks and all, was then covered with a 
layer two inches thick of charred straw. The 
plants had blossomed and the fruit was set 
before they were put out. Mr. Barnes states 
that after they were put out, the weather took 
an unfavourable turn, and of some of the 
flowers which had not been set in-doors, the 
pips became " blind," causing the fruit to be 
somewhat deformed. The points of the leaves 
also received some injury from the unfavour- 
ableness of the weather ; but as soon as the 
latter became kind they recovered. Their 
suckers were very strong, and though some- 
what browned at the points of the outside 
leaves, were healthy ; the roots too were of 
the most healthy description. It having been 
considered by some that Devonshire was 
peculiarly favourable to this experiment, Mr. 
Barnes thought it worth while to keep a 
register of the temperature of the kitchen 
garden where the experiment was made ; this 
register was somewhat deficient, inasmuch as 
it did not commence till the loth of June ; it 
was continued on till September. During the 
months in which the experiment was made, 
the warmest day — the loth of July — indicated 
96° at noon, and the coldest — the 23d of 
August — '18° night. The fruit generally 
swelled tolerably well, and the quality has 
been stated to be excellent. The plants ex- I 
perimented on were chiefly Queens, but there i 
were some Jamaica?, Envilles, Sugar-loafs, j 
&c. This experiment is of course altogether 
different from cultivating the pine-apple in 
the open air ; and few persons will, notwith- 
standing Mr. Barnes's register, be disposed to 
think that Devonshire was not by its climate ; 
peculiarly adapted to produce the result which i 
he attained. 
TRUFFLE CULTURE. 
Mr. Tilleet, of "Welbeck, has recorded his 
success in cultivating the Truffle (Gard. '. 
Journ. 1847, 81). He found, in trying its j 
artificial cultivation, that young ones trans- I 
planted invariably perished. Those, however, ! 
which were full sized, and in a state of ripe- 
ness, with all the soil attached in which they ' 
grew, communicated their spawn to the place j 
where they were planted, and thus a colony 
was founded. This was in natural soil in a 
shrubbery, under thorns, yews, and laurels. 
Mr. Tillery made up an artificial bed in 1844, 
under some beech trees, in a sandy soil ; it was ■ 
filled up with muddy deposit full of fresh-water 
shells from the bottom of a lake j this bed was 
planted with some old decaying truffles, and 
the parings of those used in the kitchen, and 
there were, in January 1847, young truffles 
found as large as walnuts. Mr. Tillery adds 
the following hints as the result of his expe- 
rience :— » The situation must be where there 
is due light and shade, such as under young 
oaks, thorns, or crab-trees, or beech, where 
the trees stand singly. The soil must be 
neither too wet nor too dry, and should be 
covered slightly with grass or leaves, to keep 
it from cracking in dry weather — if it does so, 
in the least, they all perish. The finest and 
best grow from one and a half to two inches 
below the surface. The original soil may be 
taken out eighteen inches deep, and a large 
stone placed at each corner to mark the bed ; 
then filled in with calcareous soil mixed with 
small stones, pieces of chalk, marl, or shells 
of any sort. October and November are the 
best months for planting, as the ripe ones are 
most plentiful then. The ripe truffles for 
planting, should be taken up with the original 
soil about them, and not disturbed in the 
least. 
CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS, 
ASD ORIGINAL NOTES CONNECTED "WITH HORTICrLTERE 
AND NATURAL HISTORY. 
CoxsTsrciiON of Venteeies. — Mr. R. Beid 
has described an arrangement for introducing 
vines planted outside, into the vinery, which 
he had seen in the garden of Mr. Nash, of 
Bishop's Stortford. The house was con- 
structed as vineries usually are, except that a 
board six or eight inches wide is fixed on the 
wad plate, projecting over the border ; and 
the front sashes instead of hanging perpen- 
dicularly when shut, rest on the boards and 
present an external appearance of being open 
six inches for the admission of air. There 
are pieces of board fixed on the munnions each 
side of the sash, of the same width at bottom 
as the board above referred to, tapering to 
nothing at top, and fitted with a rebate for the 
sash to drop into. The border is made quite 
up to the wall plate, and the vines introduced 
through holes in the boards. Mr. Beid 
thought it an admirable contrivance for facili- 
tating the taking of vines out of the house, 
which might be done with still greater facility 
if instead of the hole in the board a notch was 
made in the front. Mr. Nash attached im- 
portance to the vines being allowed to grow 
up straight, instead of being cramped, as they 
usually are, in holes through the brickwork. 
The vines at this place have this year pro- 
duced an unexampled crop of grapes. 
Hothouse beildevg. — A correspondent of 
the Gardener's Chronicle writes : — " When 
my attention was first directed to sheet glass, 
I was tempted to pay Is. 4d. per foot for it, 
